LoL - LCK: T1 secure their spot at Worlds after a strong victory against Dplus KIA

For the fifth consecutive year, the most decorated organization in the history of League of Legends, T1, qualify for Worlds. Their victory against Dplus KIA on September 18 also marks the non-qualification of DK, the first time in the organization’s history that they will miss Worlds since their arrival in the LCK in 2019. T1 will face Gen.G in the next round to decide who will be Korea’s fourth seed in China and who will continue their lower bracket run.

T1 gave their fans a scare, after the heavy 3-0 defeat against Hanwha Life Esports and the upset of KT Rolster against Gen.G, nothing was certain for the five-time World Champion organization which were not in very good shape in these LCK playoffs. But they managed to get back on their feet for the most important match of their year against DK. Questions were being asked about what Worlds would look like without T1, we won’t know the answer, at least not this year.

However, the series didn’t start that well for T1, as DK stomped them, with a good Corki game from Kim "Aiming" Ha-ram. Heo "ShowMaker" Su surprised everyone during the draft with a mid Cassiopeia, a pick that worked very well. But while this victory brought joy to DK fans and gave them hope, it was not repeated in the rest of the series. One player in particular stepped up for T1 and carried the rest of the series on his shoulders: jungler Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun.

In game 2 on Jarvan IV, he had 100% kill participation and secured a pentakill, the first of his career. The third game was the shortest of the series, featuring an imperial Pantheon jungle with a 14/1/6 score, involved in 20 of his team’s 23 kills—Oner was indispensable in T1’s comeback. In the final game, Cho "BeryL" Geon-hee played Rammus, a pick that, as Oner said in the post-match interview, made them laugh and surprised them, as they were expecting him to play Maokai—a pick he had pre-locked before switching to Rammus—which didn’t work for the two-time world champions.

Oner shone once again, this time on Sylas, while Ryu "Keria" Min-seok played Leona perfectly. T1 thus qualify for Worlds as well as the next stage of the LCK, where they will face Gen.G for a spot in the Lower Bracket Final against the loser of the BO between KT Rolster and HLE in the Upper Bracket Final.